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> What's a pica?<BR>> (kidding, kidding!!!!)<BR>> <BR>> …and for those that don't know, 12 points=1 pica, 6 picas=1 inch<BR><BR>
Umm, not exactly. (Or maybe "not necessarily" is more apt.) There are three definitions of the unit we know as a pica, and all of them are a little bit different.<BR>
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The original definition is from 18th century France, where a pica was defined as 12 Didot points, which worked out to 12 x 0.376 mm = 4.512 mm.<BR>
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The American definition was as a fraction of a foot: 0.013837 (or 1/72.27) to be exact. That works out to 4.2175 mm.<BR>
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But the computer world likes rounder numbers, and the computer pica is 1/72 of a foot (specifically the metrically redefined foot of 1959), and that works out to 4.23333... mm. <BR>
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And if you're talking about those wonderful, archaic devices known as typewriters, pica refers to a type size that is nominally 12 points tall and about 7.2 points wide, resulting in 10 characters to the horizontal inch. <BR>
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-Fred Ridder<BR> </div></body>
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